D&D General Roleplaying Powerful Beings versus Smart-Aleck PCs

[jayoungr]

The PCs have come into the presence of some being of great power--good, evil, or neutral, anything from a local noble to an actual deity. It's a serious situation where, realistically, there would be severe consequences for inappropriate behavior. But players are players, and they're going to have their characters mouth off to this powerful being.

I figure this must be something a lot of DMs deal with. How do you handle these situations? How do you keep the whole thing fun for all concerned without sacrificing the impressiveness of this important NPC? Is that even possible?

Note: I'm more interested roleplay solutions than mechanical ones. Obviously, as the DM, I could easily say "The guards haul you off and execute you on the spot for rudeness to the emperor," but I don't think that would be fun for anyone.

I've tried a few solutions with varying levels of success:

• Jeny Greeneeth in Ravenloft may have been the most successful. She'd just smile sweetly and say, "Don't be impolite, dear. I'd hate to have to rip your guts out unnecessarily." But that may only have worked because the PCs needed her help.
• Later in the same campaign, Rahadin wouldn't let the PCs into Castle Ravenloft unless they surrendered their weapons and swore an oath to behave peacefully. The players assumed they could talk their way around this, but Rahadin told them they could either agree to the terms or leave. So they went along with it, but I think the players were unhappy at feeling forced into a corner.

In the next session, they're due to meet an archfey whom I want to come across as powerful and mysterious. I fully expect the players to be snarky to her, so I want to be prepared for that. Any suggestions on how to deal with this situation?

(ETA: Since some have asked for more details on the archfey: the PCs are searching for the source of magic that's infusing the local countryside. They're going to find out that it's due to this archfey's lair being adjacent to an underground river. They're not expecting to meet her and aren't seeking anything from her. If things go well, she might have a quest for them and/or offer them the opportunity to make a pact with her, i.e. take a level of fey pact warlock.)

 

[prabe]

I guess I'd start with why the PCs are encountering this archfey. If they want something, of course the archfey knows it--and will make it clear they know, and then make it clear that (further) rudeness will result in the archfey making it more difficult for the PCs to get what they want.

Then, of course, if the PCs continue mouthing off, the archfey makes it harder for the PCs to get what they want. And--probably--goes away. Or maybe stands there laughing invulnerably.

 

[Seramus]

Being able to talk back to authority figures is one of the most basic forms of escapist fantasy around. Who hasn't dreamed of doing it? To a certain extent, it's healthy to live out that fantasy in a safe place like an RPG. So I try to be reasonably patient with players who do it; for small to medium stuff, I just ignore it completely or give snarky responses back (NPC dependent).

For your archfey I would like to ask a clarifying question first. What are they the Archfey of?

 

[Oofta]

Another way to approach this is to simply have a conversation off line. Ask the players to tone it down a bit. Perhaps warn them that if they don't then things will go badly for them.

On a related note for leaving weapons behind. I always have a bit of an issue with that if it's a group that has PCs that don't rely on weapons. It always feels like a penalty that only applies to some characters and not others. Just food for thought.

 

[Bill Zebub]

I kind of hate to bring it up, but this reminds me of the whole debate about NPC's "using intimidation" on PCs. You don't need to roll dice when you get to decide what the NPCs actually do!

• Jeny Greeneeth in Ravenloft may have been the most successful. She'd just smile sweetly and say, "Don't be impolite, dear. I'd hate to have to rip your guts out unnecessarily." But that may only have worked because the PCs needed her help.

In example A, I think you nailed it: they needed her help. If you don't want the players to be smart-alecky, then an appropriate response here would have been for the NPC to absolutely refuse to give them help because of their rudeness.

Then, after sufficient groveling and begging, she tells them they can redeem themselves by doing her a little favor. And then send them on an absolutely horrid sidequest.

I'm betting that the next time this situation arises they will be more respectful.

• Later in the same campaign, Rahadin wouldn't let the PCs into Castle Ravenloft unless they surrendered their weapons and swore an oath to behave peacefully. The players assumed they could talk their way around this, but Rahadin told them they could either agree to the terms or leave. So they went along with it, but I think the players were unhappy at feeling forced into a corner.

I don't see the problem here. The players were not even remotely forced into a corner. They have three perfectly good choices:

1) Surrender their weapons
2) Fight their way through
3) Leave

Now, the problem may be that the players have learned ("been trained") to believe they can always just bluff their way through situations like this and get exactly what they want. If so I'd say the problem is purely with player expectations.

 

[Morrus]

Definitely interested in opinions on this one!

 

[Fanaelialae]

Generally my powerful NPCs will ignore or laugh off minor insults.

For more serious insults, there will be repercussions, but likely not such that they'll be killed. For example, let's say they were meeting with the emperor, who wants them to do a job for him, but they are very rude to him. He might decide that they can do the job for half of what he originally offered, or be exiled from the Empire. Of course, this could result in the campaign becoming about overthrowing the "tyrant", but there's nothing wrong with that IMO.

 

[Stalker0]

You deal with it like you deal with teenagers.... with embarrassment.

PC mouths off to a noble. Noble motions to a guard. The PCs tense, waiting for the guard to attack. But no, the guard pulls a bottle of champagne, shacks it off, and sprays the PC with it.

The Noble laughs jovially. "Oh ha ha, you amuse me little one....like a puppy. Would you bark some more for me little puppy?" the court then erupts in laughter, pointing at the soaking wet PC. From then on, the entire court addresses the PC as "little puppy".

PCs are used to violence, but when the noble goes for the ego....its a whole new ballgame.

 

[jayoungr]

Being able to talk back to authority figures is one of the most basic forms of escapist fantasy around. Who hasn't dreamed of doing it?

Sure, I get that, which is why I'm not asking for ways of preventing it entirely. It's just that it tends to end up making the authority figure in question look considerably less impressive, and sometimes losing that is bad for the story. If you have suggestions on how to make the story work even when that happens, I'm all ears.

For your archfey I would like to ask a clarifying question first. What are they the Archfey of?

She's known as the Queen of the Dark River. Lives alongside an underground river, attended by freshwater Kuo-Toa who venerate her as quasi-divine.

On a related note for leaving weapons behind. I always have a bit of an issue with that if it's a group that has PCs that don't rely on weapons. It always feels like a penalty that only applies to some characters and not others. Just food for thought.

In this particular case, they only had to surrender the weapons to get through the door. The first thing they could do (and in fact, the first thing they did do) was find and retrieve them once inside.

 

[Vaalingrade]

I have the NPC smartalleck right back at them then give a display of power showing they're above getting their back up about such puny mortals.